Dreaming of Sunshine: The Twins of Destiny
by TsukiRiver
Summary: Shikako finds herself being reincarnated once again, this time as the twin sister of Ash Ketchum. What might come from her influence in his life and the lives of others around him?
1. Prologe: The Journey Begins

Dreaming of Sunshine: The Twins of Destiny

 **Tylerbamafan: Um wow, hard to believe a little snippet in a forum can create a buzz like this. Seriously, this all started with a small snippet over in the Recursive Fanfiction forum for DOS by the Real Chys Lattes. It's incredible how the idea wormed its way into my head. This entire project started with that.**

 **This story is a cowritten project between myself and TsukiRiver, and since I've got a project of my own to manage -an update for which is in the works DAMN YOU UCHIHA MASSACRE- this is being posted on her profile**

 **TsukiRiver: Gosh, I never thought that this would happen. I'm the first to admit that I am terrible at seeing an idea through, but when this idea wormed itself into my head I couldn't help myself. To be honest if it weren't for Tylerbamafan this would have definitely never happened, but here we are, and here we go.**

 **Tylerbamafan: One more thing: Dreaming of Sunshine is credited to Silver Queen, and Pokemon is credited to Nintendo as for Naruto… I still can't spell the guys name… just know we don't own it.**

 **TsukiRiver: let's not forget, thanks The Real Chys Lattes and Dinner for coming up with the idea for this and continuing it n such a way that it demanded more! This would never have happened without you two!**

Prologue: The Journey Begins

Sarah groaned in annoyance at the sharp, incessant, wailing of the alarm clock. Fumbling for her covers and pulling them over her head, she wished severe pain on whoever invented the device.

She had been up late the night before, watching tv with her brother, and now she was paying for it.

 _'That's something that hadn't changed,'_ she thought to herself, with slight chagrin.

You see she wasn't always Sarah 'Soot' Ketchum, she had memories of another life, another world. A world of Ninja and before that, a perfectly ordinary existence.

Even now, in this life, she wasn't sure _why_ she kept recycling through the dreamsleeve. It was a question she hoped to one day answer, but if the feeling of dread that had been steadily growing for the past ten years was any indication, it wouldn't be in _this_ world when those questions were answered.

She was knocked out of her thoughts and morbid musings- rather timely- by her brother who unceremoniously yanked her sheets out from under her.

"Soot! Come On! We're late!" Ash yelled.

It took a moment for her to realize what he was talking about, and when she did she shot up out of bed like a rocket. It was April 1st, in other words today was the day they would finally get their first Pokemon.

Yeah, she was understandably panicked as she bolted across the room like a Ponyta to their shared closet and grabbed the outfits they had _slaved_ over the night before. After she had retrieved them she sprinted down to the bathroom, throwing the outfit her twin had chosen his way as she passed.

She sighed as she splashed water on her face to help orient herself and calm down a little. She'd learned long ago that panicking never did anyone any good.

Sighing once again she looked longingly at the shower before getting dressed. She'd just have to catch one in the next town's Pokemon Center. Briefly, she entertained the idea of doing her usual morning stretches, but decided against it. If she tried then her brother would probably just drag her along behind him and not stop until they got to the lab.

 _'Besides,'_ she thought wryly, ' _I'll probably get plenty of exercise today anyway.'_ She heard a knocking on the bathroom door and smiled,' _Speak of the devil.'_

"Soot! Let's go! We're late enough as it is!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She hastily pulled on her vest and tied up her hair in it's usual braid before making her way toward the door.

No sooner had her hand touched the doorknob than it was yanked open and Ash grabbed her by the collar and all but dragged her down the hall! "HEY!" She protested as she removed herself from his deceptively strong grip, "I can run fine on my own Ash, no need to manhandle me!" Honestly, she loved him but sometimes he just didn't think things through.

"Then let's go!" Ash exclaimed before taking off at a dead sprint "Race Ya!" he called back to her with a cheeky grin.

"Hey!" she complained "That's cheating!" before taking off after him, swinging over the stairs and landing behind him a moment later.

As they sprinted to the lab, she couldn't help but reminisce about the past ten years, to be honest it was a nice change. She had faced no real danger, nor did she need to worry about the future. She was able to enjoy herself a little more and this world, for all its faults, was absolutely fascinating. To be honest she remembered little about it from her first life, and maybe that was a good thing.

Pokemon were _everything_ in this world. Every skillset, every career, every possible course of the future involved Pokemon in some way or if she'd had knowledge about them from some other lifetime -she did remember _some_ things- it would take away some of the wonder.

In school they learned, not only about math and sciences, which she breezed through because after working on seals that mess with the fabric of spacetime, everything else seemed like child's play.

It was when their teacher brought in Pokemon that ranged from the smallest Pidgey to the largest Ursaring in the area, that she realized that the creatures in this world were going to be keeping her occupied for her entire life. She wanted to know everything she could about these incredible creatures that filled this world, she wanted to know what it was that allowed them to perform the awe inspiring feats that they did at a moment's notice.

Still, that didn't mean she wasn't haunted by memories and nightmares on occasion. Every once in awhile, Ash would say or do something that reminded her _painfully_ of Naruto, or Gary Oak would scoff in a manner reminiscent of Sasuke. She could only be grateful that she'd managed to avoid anything that reminded her of Shikamaru. She'd probably fall to pieces then.

She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts and focused once more on running, they were almost at the lab now, it was almost time for the two of them to get their first Pokemon.

Considering that they were late _despite_ her influence, -oh the irony- she was fairly certain that Ash would be receiving Pikachu again, and to be honest she was glad. She couldn't imagine a world without Ash meeting that little rodent. Unfortunately, because she was also late, she didn't have the slightest clue as to what her Pokemon might be. She'd put a lot of thought into the strengths and weaknesses of each Pokemon, and had eventually settled on Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur wasn't there anymore, and there was no way that she would take away the one her brother would befriend from him. Oh sure, it would be a rocky road to that friendship, but eventually that bond would be unshakeable. She remembered that much.

She couldn't help but smirk as Ash skidded to a stop and hunched over, panting in front of Oak's place. She wasn't even winded. Giving Ash a moment to catch his breath she got ready, mentally for the biggest moment of this life so far.

The door flew open, revealing her friend and Ash's rival Gary Oak standing casually with his hands in his pockets.

"You two do know you're late right?" Gary Oak asked with a raised eyebrow in her direction "I'd have thought you would have made sure he woke up on time."

Ash scowled at his rival "For your information, I was the one that woke _her_ up!" he protested

The other eyebrow joined the first.

She flushed "It's not my fault!" she complained "Agatha was being awesome!"

Gary smirked fondly and gestured toward the lab with his head, "You better get in there, Gramps is waiting for you two."

Sarah nodded, "See you when we get out?"

"Probably," he said with a grin "Got a few things to grab at my place before I hit the road."

She nodded, "Us too, Ash didn't exactly give us time to grab our stuff."

"That _so_ doesn't surprise me."

"HEY! What does that mean!" Shouted Ash.

"Figure it out!" Gary called with a lazy wave as he ambled down the path.

She snickered quietly and grabbed hold of her brothers hand, "Come on Ash, you can worry about that later, we have to get our Pokemon."

Professor Oak's Pokemon lab was in a bit of chaos as always, papers were strewn haphazardly around the rooms and aids rushed from one room to another as some new problem turned up. In times not long past those problems used to often involve herself, her brother or even Gary as they had spent much of their childhood here in this very lab, or in the Pokemon habitats behind it. Sarah could say with certainty that this was her favorite place in the world. It was the one place where she didn't need to hide the fact that she was abnormally good at math and science, and that she understood what the assistants were talking about most of the time. It was, a place where she could shine more and not have to keep her head down.

Needless to say, that was good for her ego.

Eventually they made their way through the chaos to the room where every year new trainer hopefuls got their first official Pokemon. In the room there was many different machines with unknown proposes, but none of them really mattered at that moment to Ash and Sarah. No, the only thing they were interested in was the device in the center of the room that held three Pokeballs.

"Ah. There you are." Oak stood up from behind the desk with a bundle of papers in hand, "I was wondering where you two were."

"Sorry Professor." Sarah said sheepishly "We overslept."

"Indeed?" Oak asked dryly, "Well, I'm sorry to say that due to your tardiness the normal selection of starter Pokemon have all been taken. Fortunately, I have two Pokemon in need of good trainers and I think you two fit the bill quite nicely."

Ash's eyes lit up and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. She'd known, of course that the Professor wouldn't leave them high and dry. However there had still been that little bit of doubt.

"I'll be right back," the aging professor said with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

After he left the twins turned to each other and grinned, Ash was practically jumping out of his skin and Sarah wasn't much better. They didn't get a chance to speculate about what their Pokemon might be however as Oak came back holding a pair of miniature Pokeballs.

"I should warn you Ash," Oak began "Your starter is a bit aggressive and will take patience to get to know. She's stubborn and prideful."

"Sounds like two peas in a pod" Sarah said with a bit of snark.

"Oi! I thought you were supposed to be on my side!"

"Your Pokemon on the other hand Sarah," Oak continued over the banter "has the opposite problem. She's timid. Comes from being the runt of her litter. It might be best to take her into a separate room to avoid scaring her with all these different people."

Sarah's mind instantly catalogued her Pokemon as a canine of some sort as Oak handed each of them a Pokeball, Ash got one with a little lightning bolt on it and Sarah received one with a single molecule as it would be depicted in a science textbook. She bit her lip nervously and looked at him, silently asking him to go first. She knew what it was going to be, but she hoped that maybe once he discovered what his Pokemon was, then she wouldn't feel as nervous.

Ash grinned and lightly tossed the Pokeball into the air "I choose you!"

There was a flash and as quickly as it appeared it faded into a familiar silhouette.

"Pika?"

She was glad she had thought to make their clothes flame and electricity retardant since, just like she thought She would, Pikachu immediately launched a thundershock attack at them.

The look of confusion at the lack of reaction on Pikachu's face was priceless, and the very singed appearance of Professor Oak even more so.

"Nice try." Sarah grinned,"Unfortunately for you, we came prepared."

She was gratified to see a look of grudging respect in the rodent's eyes.

After that moment of comedic relief Sarah felt much more ready to discover the identity of her new partner.

The trio in the room backed away, giving them space and she knelt before lightly tossing the Pokeball. As expected a bright red light shot out from the ball and quickly formed a shape on the ground.

"Vee?" she breathed a sigh of relief. This was a Pokemon she was familiar with… at least in theory.

"Hey there," she said gently holding out a hand carefully. "Glad to meet you"

The shivering Eevee slowly crept forward, sniffing curiously at her hand before pushing her head into it.

Oak breathed a sigh of relief ' _Success.'_ he thought.

 **Tylerbamafan: And done. Wow, this is fun. And it's amazing how short the time was it took to get it done. What was it? like four hours? Anyway, this is where everything starts and we wanted to stick close to canon. At least in the beginning. No promises later though.**

 **Eevee. We just loved the idea of Kako with one and it wasn't' even a choice. We've got a LOT of plans for Kako and Ash. If you noticed anything you want to talk about, you can contact us both personally or leave it on the forums.**

 **See ya next time.**

 **TsukiRiver:I have to say, it was hard to decide that we needed to stop, but his is just the prologue and so it wouldn't do to get into the adventure just yet. In any case I am actually very happy with how this turned out, and greatful for Tylerbamafans assistance (forget that he wrote most of it) he made sure I didn't make any slip ups in pov. I look forward to seeing what you all think and getting into the rest of the 'episode'.**

 **(Edited as of 10/8/15)**


	2. Chapter One: Into the Breach

**Tylerbamafan: got to say, the response for this was kinda amazing in just the last few hours since we released the story. Well Tsuki almost certainly has a better work ethic than me. She was trying to work on the next chapter immediately while I just watched SEC Football for the afternoon before going back to the grinder**

 **TsukiRiver: It isn't like I got very far. Real talk though, I can't believe how many of you guys favorited and followed, once the onslaught of emails starts to slow down I am going to thank each and every one of you! Seriously, getting all those emails made me grin so hard my face hurt, it was fantastic!**

 **We do not own Dreaming of Sunshine, Naruto, or Pokemon**

Chapter 1: Into the Breach

Sarah smiled as the little Eevee moved closer and closer to her until it was cuddled up next to her. Very carefully she picked it up and gently held it up to her heart.

"Hey there, my name is Sarah, would you like to go on an adventure with me?"

The Eevee seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. Sarah smiled and rubbed behind the Eevees ear. The Eevee seemed to snuggle into the darkness her arms provided…. darkness… Yes… That would work. That would work nicely

"Well then, if you're coming with me then you are going to need a good name. How does Nyx sound?"

The Eevee tilted its head, as though considering and eventually nodded in acquiescence. Sarah smiled and murmured into her fur "Nyx it is then."

Professor Oak, feeling vindicated in his belief that this girl could do it, approached with two Pokedexes in hand. "These are your Pokedexes, they will give you information on every kind of Pokemon that has been officially recorded. They will also function as identification if you ever need it."

Sarah tilted her head idly "Officially Recorded?" she asked pointedly she knew for a fact that some Pokemon species flitted between Kanto and Johto

Oak smiled, "Each Pokedex is divided by region," he explained, "Pokemon native to Kanto will not be included in a Hoenn Pokedex, under most circumstances. The same applies for all regions."

"Most circumstances?"

Oak chuckled, "Should you receive all eight gym badges in a region, we will upgrade your Pokedex with more international data."

Sarah hummed and Ash nodded to show that he understood.

"Now come on, you two. Let's get you on the road." Oak had barely finished speaking before Ash was out of the room and running down the hall, Pikachu in his arms.

Sarah chuckled "Let's go before he winds up charging out of Pallet without stopping."

The Professor snorted in amusement and lead her out of the room.

The two walked at a more sedate pace than Ash's over energetic rush -Sarah with Nyx still curled up in her arms- and when they opened the door to the outside world, they were greeted with a smoking delegation of well wishers and a smug looking Pikachu.

"What in the world happened while we were walking here? You were away from us for what, a minute?"

"Apparently," Delia Ketchum said, smoothing out her hair and dusting herself off, "Pikachu doesn't like to be crowded."

Sarah stifled a giggle, "Well, I'm pretty sure Nyx wouldn't like it either so maybe it would be best to give her some room." It was very hard for her to contain her laughter as she watched the entire group take one large, rather dramatic step back, with the exceptions of her mother, brother, and the Professor.

Sarah smirked, and gently loosened her arms a little. Nyx poked her head out curiously.

Delia gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh, that is the cutest thing."

Nyx merely tilted her head, scanning the group warily and looking ready to duck back into Sarah's arms

"Easy girl…" She murmured, ruffling her fur between her ears

Nyx relaxed slightly.

"You certainly have a way with her." Oak said easily

Delia smiled and parted the crowd as she went to grab Sarah's bag "Come on," she said with a smile "I've got something for you."

She rummaged around in her bags, "Aha" she pulled out a small, rectangular object and pressed a button on the side causing the screen on top to expand and flicker to life.

"This is a Pokegear." Her mom explained handing the device to her, "It serves as both a map, and a way for you to contact us should you need either me or Professor Oak."

"Aren't these expensive?" She asked wonderingly

Delia merely grinned teasingly, "I wasn't always a mom." She explained, "I still have connections."

Oak chuckled.

Sarah couldn't help but wonder how much she didn't know about her mom, and mentally scolded herself for forgetting her sensei's favorite lesson

 _Look underneath the underneath_

Still, right now was a moment they'd been waiting their entire lives for. Best to focus on the now. She was acutely aware of Ash impatiently shuffling around and Pikachu looking curiously at the machine in Delia's hands.

 _'Right, let's get this show on the road'_

Ash turns around and tilts his head, "Aren't you coming?" He asked.

Sarah shakes her head, "Not yet, I have a few things I need to pack before I'm ready to set off. Don't worry, I'll catch up with you."

Ash shrugged, "Suit yourself Soot. I'll wait up if you don't catch up by morning."

Sarah smiled and nudged him playfully, "Thanks, but if you are gonna have to drag that Pikachu around all day, I'll catch up with you no problem."

Ash stuck his tongue out at his sister before giving her a gentle hug, wary of the Eevee still in her arms. "See you then sis." He mutters before turning around and running down the road. In the wrong direction.

She waited a few moments for him to figure it out himself before smiling as he stopped for a moment, seemed to think about it, then proceeded to follow a more correct path.

She smiled and began to walk back to their home. She had made it about halfway there when she saw Gary leaning against a wall, apparently he noticed her about the same time because he held a hand up in a sort of wave

"Yo," He said, pushing off the wall, "Heard about her from Gramps." He said with a nod at Nyx

"Hey," Sarah said, "you waited up on us?"

"Well more for your sake than Ashy boy." Gary smirked, "His Pikachu has all the firepower it needs."

"He got you too huh?" Sarah asked

"Oh yeah." Gary nodded, "Met the little turd about a week ago and didn't want to see it again after that."

The Prodigal Oak blinked and shook his head, "Anyway that's not what I wanted to talk about, Mainly I stayed to give you this." He tossed a silvery disc at her and she reflexively caught it out of the air. "Most times, Eevee don't have a good move pool until they evolve, this should give her a bit of an edge."

She blinked and took a closer look at the disk in her hands. Her eyes widened in surprise."Thanks" she said looking up.

Gary grinned "Thank me when it saves your hide in Pewter." he said, clapping her on the shoulder and walking past her "See ya around"

Sarah wasn't sure how to respond to that, so, she simply watched him walk off. After he was out of sight Sarah took one last glance at the thing in her hand and then at Nyx,

"That was odd." She said before continuing on her way home. The remainder of the walk was uneventful, as Sarah chatted idly to Nyx about herself and her brother in an attempt to bond with her Pokemon before she got on the road.

Once she reached her home she had to set down Nyx so that she could open the door. Once she did so, she offered to pick her up again, but she chose instead to simply walk beside her.

Leading Nyx upstairs, Sarah couldn't help but think of the fact that it was very possible that she would never see this house again. The thought made her pause because, while she understood the concept behind sending trainers out into the world at only ten years old, that it was at this age that bonds were still easy to form, and it was mildly reasonable to expect them to be able to take care of themselves for at least a while.

Despite understanding the concept behind it all, the part of her that was simply ten years old again thought it to be more than a bit scary as her adult and shinobi oriented brain told her all the things that could go wrong. Luckily for her, Nyx had been watching her new trainer and noticed the fact that something was bothering her and proceeded to nudge her leg with her head. Sarah blinked and looked down at her Pokemon with a small smile, "Thank you Nyx."

"Vee vee."

Sarah knelt down and scratched the Eevees' head, "All I need to do is pack a few more things and I'll be good." She said as she opened the door to the room she and Ash shared. "There were a few things I didn't want my brother to know about just yet, so I couldn't pack them." She gave Nyx a wiry grin, "You'll keep it a secret right?" Much to her amusement she nodded seriously, looking very pleased with the fact that she was about to share a secret with her.

"Alright, since you promised," she said before moving aside three loose boards, which appeared to have nothing under them, until she reached into the hole and under the boards next to it and began to pull things out. Among which were a large plastic bag, a thick book, and two cardboard boxes. Opening up one of her backpacks many pockets, she began to place the plastic bag inside causing Nyx to make a noise of confusion.

Sarah smiled and said,"This is the outfit I am going to wear for big official battles, but it isn't quite done yet, so I'm going to keep it a surprise until we go against our first gym leader." She then then holds up the book, "This is my research book, don't be fooled by its small size, everything I know and have learned is in this book, it is very important to me, so important that I made sure that nobody else can ever read it. It would be very bad if anybody got their hands on this book, understand?" Once again the Eevee nodded. "Good, I'm glad."

Putting the book into another pocket that by all rights shouldn't have fit it she points to the first box, "That has all the things that I need for the scrapbook that I am going to make on this journey. It is going to be a record of my travels and a log of the growth of not only myself, but my Pokemon as well, in fact..." She opens the box and pulls out a small camera, "I hope you don't mind if I take your picture."

All Nyx did was smile and chirp a cue for the camera.

With a quiet chuckle Sarah took the shot

She nodded at the resulting image on the screen and tapped 'save'. She'd print the pictures off when she had the time.

Finally she pointed to the last box, "That, holds the thing that will, hopefully, make sure we never need to worry about our financial situation." She opens it to reveal that it is filled with paper, "I've been working on a book, I'm hoping it will be good enough to be published."

She placed the box in the bottom of her pack and closed the flap, before she slipped the camera into a side pocket in her backpack and slipped it over her shoulders before scooping up Nyx. "Let's go, before Ash picks a fight with an Arcanine or something."

 _'Really,'_ she thought with wry amusement, _'it's like Team 7s' curse follows me around then latches onto the people who travel with me as well.'_

She took off, dashing down the main road of Pallet at a dead sprint. In another life, this would have been a casual jog.

"Shoo!" Ash shouted as he chased the Ratata away from his bag as Pikachu merely snickered at his misfortune. Ash glared at Pikachu, "That isn't very nice! What if that Ratata had ruined our food! We're lucky it only took a single bag of chips!"

Pikachu merely shrugged and seemed to gesture at the fields around them seeming to say that she could forage for food quite easily.

Ash sighed and shook his head. Kicking at a rock in the path in frustration he wondered how he was going to catch any Pokemon if his first one refused to cooperate with him. Maybe Soot would be able to help him get Pikachu to listen…

Merely moments after he had kicked the rock a pained squawk came from the general direction he had kicked it in. Ash looked up in surprise and turned towards the noise, only to find himself lunging to the ground with a yelp in order to avoid an attack from an angry Spearow.

The Spearow banked sharply and came at him again with an angry squawk. He dove under the attack and mentally thanked Sarah for her insistence on playing dodgeball when they were young.

Huh. Now that he thought about she was always wanting to do something physica;- _focus Ketchum!_

The Spearow was preparing to make another run at him when it finally noticed Pikachu in the tree and its irritation increased tenfold as it adjusted the angle of its attack so it could go after the Pikachu instead.

It had been closing in when a rock from nowhere made it careen wildly off course and into a tree.

"I can't leave you alone for an hour can I?" Sarah asked with a raised eyebrow as she skidded to a stop and crouched into a low fighting stance.

The little Eevee on her shoulder barked a greeting to Ash and was eyeing the Spearow with a careful eye looking ready to duck into Sarah's backpack if the situation called for it.

Ash opened his mouth as if to retort before an earsplitting squawk of rage rang through the air. Sarah paled as she looked out over the plains.

"RUN!" She bellowed as she took off down the path.

He noticed that Pikachu had joined them at some time in the ensuing chaos. Sarah was several meters ahead of the both of them and it looked like she was getting even further ahead with each passing moment.

Suddenly Pikachu sprinted up ahead of him, for what reason he wasn't sure, but only a few seconds after she did so the Spearow converged on her and began to peck at the small electric mouse.

Ash dove forward and swung his arms around to make the Spearow get out of the way before picking up Pikachu and continuing the mad dash away from the angered Pokemon.

They came to be running alongside the river, as it rushed over a cliff creating a spectacular waterfall.

"We've got to jump." Ash panted seeing Sarah's hesitance

She sighed, "I know, I was hoping there was a way around that."

Ash heard her murmur, "Once more into the breach," and wondered briefly at what it meant. After all, they'd certainly never been in a situation like this before, but she reached back and grabbed his wrist in a steel grip. As though to remind herself that he was still there.

"On three." She said over the screeching that was getting closer with each second

"On three," he agreed, "one."

"Two," she continued.

 _"Three!"_

The two of them jumped off the cliff, as far from the falls and the rocks beneath them as they could manage.

Just in time too, as the flock of Spearow had come screaming out of the sky as they descended.

The impact with the water disoriented Ash as he struggled to swim with Pikachu in his grip and trying to keep Sarah in his sights. Ash was impressed by how well the little Eevee could swim and tread water but eventually she was forced to bite onto Sarah's clothing or else be swept away with the current.

A dark shape emerged from the depths and Ash recoiled in shock as a large serpent like Pokemon surged at them and watched in horror as the tail impacted against Sarah's form causing her to go limp as she hurtled quickly downstream. He struggled to follow but eventually was forced to redirect his efforts to reaching the surface. He saw what looked to be a hookless fishing lure and grabbed hold, hoping to use it to reach breathable air. It did, but not in the way he expected. As soon as he had grabbed hold of the lure he felt it being pulled up and away from his grasp, so he held on tighter and pulled at almost the exact same moment the person on the other end of the fishing rod drew it back as far as they could.

He was abruptly yanked out of the water and crashed harshly on the riverside.

"Ahhhh," a female voice complained, "It's just some kid."

"Forget that!" He said hastily thrusting the unconscious Pikachu into the woman's arms "Hold her, I've got to find my sister!" He shucked off his vest and yanked off his hat and prepared to dive back into the river

"HOLD YOUR PONYTA"S KID!" He felt a harsh yank and was abruptly laying on the ground and staring up into the woman's eyes and, the first thing he noticed was the shock of orange hair on her head.

Looking calmer now she said slowly, "Explain what happened."

Ash took a deep breath and began to hurriedly explain the fact that he and his sister had jumped into the river in an attempt to escape some Spearow who they had angered and about the long, serpentine like Pokemon that had emerged from the depths.

The woman paled slightly at his description of the dragon like Pokemon, "That," she said in a slow and deliberate manner, "was a Gyarados. You're very fortunate it didn't decide to do worse than those Spearows ever could"

Ash went very still as the reality of what this woman had just told him began to take hold in his mind. "My sister was hit by it, and I think that she was knocked out, do you think..." He trailed off, as his mind thought of all the terrible things that could have happened to his sister.

The woman shook her head and pointed at the fast water, "I've been fishing up and down these waterways for most of my life, the river calms the closer you get to Viridian. If she surfaces in the woods near there she'll be fine."

Ash nodded and then looked at his Pikachu that was currently in the woman's arms. "Where is the closest place that I can go to that can help out Pikachu? He was hurt and we might have to fight off more wild Pokemon when we head back out."

"Every major city and some of the larger towns have Pokemon Centers that'll heal all your Pokemon free of charge." She said, handing him Pikachu. "They also offer traveling trainers room and board for a small fee.'

Ash nodded, "Thank y.." He was cut off by the sound of furious squawking and his eyes widened to comical proportions, "Oh crap! I thought I lost them!"

The woman gnawed on her lip for a moment, clearly debating something before pointing towards a bike, "That's my bike, you can use it to get away from the Spearow and to Veridian City, but I expect it back in perfect condition. The Spearow won't come after me because they are notorious for having one track minds when angered."

Ash nods gratefully before putting Pikachu in the bikes basket and hopped on before taking off at breakneck speeds, the Spearow not far behind and a storm brewing in the distance.

And the whole time, his worries for his sister constantly ate away at him. His eyes narrowed and he peddled harder.

He had been riding as fast as he could for ten minutes when the storm broke open overhead. Howling winds and rain were making the path more dangerous and harder to ride on. Still he kept going.

He was so focused on going forward that he didn't notice the sudden drop until he rode right off of it, causing him to fall from the bike and Pikachu to tumble from the basket. Struggling to crawl to his new partner, he pulled out his Pokeball and set it before him. "Please Pikachu, get inside, if you do I might be able to save you, and there would be no way for those Spearow to get to you." Slowly he began to stand and turn to face the Spearow that were now practically on top of them and shouted arms stretched out to his sides, "Hey Spearow! Do you know who I am! I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I am destined to be the Pokemon master. I'm going to capture and defeat all of you! SO COME AND GET ME!"

The Spearow took the challenge.

Something in the little Pikachu's eyes hardened, she could feel the power in this storm. He surged forward, the electricity building in him and the air around her. She lept up Ash's leg, off his shoulder and released the power she knew was there.

The mouse bellowed its name, and a incredibly strong flash of lightning arched across the plains.

Miles away on a riverside, a young girl could be found laying down, completely drenched. By her side is an equally soaked little Eevee, gently nudging the young girl with her head and mewling as loud as it could, trying to get her to wake up.

 **TsukiRiver: Alright, shoutout time to all of you wonderful people.**

 **First off, all of you who reviewed. atwistedconundrum, MyDearGoddessofthemoonandsun, _Dinner_ , Silver Water 7, Vaughn Tyler, Ashen Author, Black Eclipsed Soul, ****_Silver Queen!_** **, FluffyBots, adgenelia, _The Real Chys Lattes_ , and our lovely guest. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us what you thought and for some of your questions, some of them we didn't even know the answer to until we replied to you. **

**Next, the favorites, oh my what a list.**

 **Ashen Author, AzureShadowMoon, Bigxdevil, Black Eclipsed Soul, Cadriona Morningwing, Darkjaden, DragonNOOB, Eliana34, Evanescentfacade, Evil E. Evil, Fluent, FluffyBots, Hayashi Sasuke, Hermionechan90, Janneia, Kohanita, MadnessIsAMust, MyDearGoddessofthemoonandsun, NoReasonOrSense, Sapphirepaw,** ** _Silver Queen_** **, Tanyeera, TellaBells, TheElementalIcePhoenix, _The Real Chys Lattes_ , ToAruKagakuNoPersona, Tsuarn, UnbiasedBias, VenusAngel, Yande, adgenelia, aj14, animemania659, anthes17, crazy-ghost-girl, eignav0331, einargs, , halyyy, jharz, kimmay94, mikklystar, snowdayz, treavellergirl, umbria firewing, and xxponta.**

 **Wow.**

 **Finally thank you to the 70 of you guys who are following. I would write all of your names down but I am afraid that by the time I was done there would be more of you.**

 **I can't even begin to tell you how much seeing all of the emails telling me that someone else had followed, favorited, or reviewed this story encouraged me to keep writing, even when I should have probably been sleeping. Kinda like right now actually. All you guys are amazing and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read this, and then actually liking it. Now I think I'll work on that next chapter some more.**

 **tylerbamafan: Uh, tsuki, I think they can see the favorite and follow counters just fine… hehehe…. still this was fun and i admit to some small amount of pride because, WOW ten to eleven pages on Google Docs given how far this note goes.  
**

 **Nyx. Given her affiliation with shadows and her previous Nara heritage we found it fitting. We weren't exactly kind to Sarah this chapter and that was with reason. She doesn't have chakra anymore or any other kind of special powers from other lives and sometimes she needs a few good knocks to remind her that she's only human here. Not to worry though, there will be plenty of badass to come. From everyone.**

 **Let it be known that I am also something of a troll so what I say could easily be a hint to the opposite being true… or being a red herring. the difference largely depends on my mood. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!**

 **See ya next time**

 **(Edited as of 10/8/15)**


	3. Chapter Two: The First Blasting Off

**TsukiRiver: I would like it to be known that while I might not write most of this story, I certainly have plenty of motivation to do so, I started this chapter right after I finished writing the nice little cliffhanger at the end of the last one. I think I am the one who wants to read this story the most... It is weird to me to be so involved with the writing process of something I look forward to.**

 **Tylerbamafan: Eagle eyed readers will note a change in canon circumstances during the last chapter. You can expect a lot of that, and in greater qualities as the story goes. Small changes and big changes alike are coming, some good, some bad.**

 **Also, we'd like to welcome Dinner, a fellow Dreaming of Sunshine fan as well as Pokemon fan into the fold, making this team up a trio :-)**

 **Dinner: i'll keep my introduction short. I'm excited to be able to lend a helping hand.**

 **Disclaimer: None of us own Pokemon, Naruto, or Dreaming of Sunshine.**

 **Chapter Two: The first Blasting Off**

Ash groaned as he forced himself to his hands and knees and eventually sat on the damp pathway. "Oh, man…" he murmured as he nursed a headache " Note to self, get Pikachu to regulate his attack power from now on."

He glanced at the charred bike with a forlorn expression "She is soooo going to kill me."

He staggered to his feet and scooped the barely conscious Pikachu into his arms "Let's get to Viridian City." he told the little mouse "We need to find my sister."

Pikachu smiled tiredly "Pika…."

A loud screech in the distance made Ash whip around, what he saw was hard to describe, it was a bird of sort. A magnificent pokémon that parted the clouds with the flapping of its wings, it was like even the clouds dared not such beauty. The pokémon looked like a golden bird, in its wake a rainbow with colors Ash had never seen before.

Ash lifted his Pokedex, knowing he'd never even heard of such a Pokemon.

"No data" was the response "there are many pokemon that have yet to be discovered"

Ash frowned, disappointed, and he looked to his partner "Maybe Soot will know what it is." He clicked the 'save image' option and slipped the Pokedex back into his pocket. He stood there, watching the golden pokemon flying until all he could see was the rainbow it left behind.

* * *

"What?!"

Ash winced at his mother's shrill voice and dug a finger in his ear. "We got separated" he repeated.

"She wound up in the woods outside of Viridian where she was found by a Pokemon Ranger. He brought her here and Ieft. I got here about half an hour ago after a run in with Officer Jenny. Thanks for telling me about the Identification function in the Pokedex, Professor."

Oak nodded "You're welcome Ash "

Ash felt his cheeks heating up at his mother's glare, before proceeding to launch into a more precise retelling of what happened since they left Pallet Town.

* * *

Sarah was lying on something soft. She was warm. Her head felt heavy, as if the pillow under her head could barely hold her.

Why was she lying in a bed?

The smell of disinfectants permeated the air, that meant she was probably in some kind of hospital. She didn't feel sick though… Why was she in the hospital?

Her eyes opened a crack, before she groaned as her head pounded. The room was not brightly lit, which she considered to be a blessing as it was hard enough for her eyes to adjust as it was. She winced as something landed hard on her torso before she was being licked by what she supposed was Nyx.

"All right, all right," she laughed hoarsely as she opened her eyes all the way to look at her partner, "I'm up."

Slowly the memories of before trickled to the front of her mind, Ah yes… that was why she was in the hospital.

"Vee!" Nyx said happily, swishing her tail back and forth

She rubbed Nyx's head as she considered how easily she'd been knocked unconscious by a glancing blow from that thing... That is not going to work. She thought I'm going to have to get back into some serious training habits if I'm going to survive more encounters with Pokemon of that size and power.

There were probably safety measures she should have taken before facing off a Gyarados.. The door to her room opened and the rotund form of a Chansey waddled into the room, distracting her mind, it didn't seem to be capable of thinking about more than one thing right now.

"Chan," it waved in greeting before turning back out the door and gesturing with stubby arms and proceeded to do the closest thing a Chansey could probably get to shouting down the hall, "Chansey!, chan!"

'Probably calling someone.' She thought idly, she didn't quite feel like entertaining company now though.. Just her and Nyx would be nice… But with her luck-

Sure enough, a rather pretty redhead came breezing into the room holding her clipboard under one arm. "You're awake," she said with a bright smile "how are you feeling?"

"Like I got trampled by a herd of Tauros" Sarah answered

"That is to be expected, if what your brother told us is true."

"Ash!" She lurched forward, regretting the movement immediately as the inside of her head seemed to throb harder and more painfully "is he okay?" she asked, her hand resting on the side of her head, as if that would ease the throbbing.

"He's fine." The nurse soothed as chansey fussed about. "He was more worried about you, and rightly so... considering what happened."

"Yeah," Sarah said, bitter "How did I get here?"

"You were lucky."

Sarah smiled wrily. She didn't feel lucky.

"Well when you washed up, your Eevee made quite the ruckus, it caught the notice of a Ranger on patrol."

"Who was it?" She asked, interested in knowing who got her out of there.

Here, the woman looked flustered "He didn't leave a name, he was blond though, blond and tall."

'So I was rescued by a tall blond Pokemon ranger who disappeared without a trace after dropping me off at a Pokemon Center, not even leaving a name. That sounds oddly like something from a bad romance novelette.' Sarah gave a toothy grin. "Just my luck I guess."

Sarah sat herself upright, her feet dangling over the side of the hospital bed. "Did he find my back too?"

"You really shouldn't be doing much..." the nurse said doubtfully

Sarah leveled a hard, well practiced gaze at the woman "I know my limits," she said evenly "I won't do much."

The nurse sighed "Very well, your back is the locker" she pointed towards a small cabinet hanging on the wall. "Don't force yourself into action too soon. You have painkillers easing the pain right now, but they won't last forever."

Sarah's gaze softened and she smiled, "Thank you. I'm sorry.. I… Do you know where my brother is?"

As it turned out she didn't need to ask, all she had to do was follow the arguing. She blankly stared at the duo as they shouted at each other.

As Ash began to gesture wildly 'That's enough of the comedy act'.

"I'm sore, tired, hungry, and I literally got knocked around by a Gyarados," she cut in, smoothly weaving through the gathered crowd "Now stop acting like petulant children, I would rather not have to referee this."

Ash immediately went silent and spun around to face her, "Soot!" He exclaimed before rushing over to her and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay." He mumbled, "I tried to get you but the water was moving so fast and you were gone before I even got the chance."

"It's fine Ash," she soothed patting him on the shoulder, "I should've been able to handle a glancing blow from that thing. "

"Not really," Sarah glanced up to see the woman with a shock of orange hair approaching . "Gyarados are powerful, often called the atrocious Pokemon because of sheer destructive power. Rather unfair, but given their temper..." she trailed off with a shrug "Misty Waterflower." She said, holding out a hand for a shake

Sarah shifted Nyx in her arms and accepted the handshake, "Sarah Ketchum. You have already met my brother. Speaking of which..." she looked at Ash, "What in the world were you two arguing about?"

Ash scratched the back of his head sheepishly "Ah... Pikachu destroyed her bike by accident."

The head throbbing returned in full glory "When did that happen?"

Ash took a guilty glance over at Misty, "After you were hit... I tried to catch you, but the current was too strong and I needed to breath; she was fishing and I grabbed onto her lure and she pulled me out. The Spearow were catching up and so she let me borrow her bike to escape them... And so that I could get here faster. It started to rain really hard, the Spearow caught up and Pikachu crispy fried the bike when he used a lightning attack or actually a bolt of lightning… I'm not sure, there was a lot of light and it all happened really fast. But we're all unharmed?"

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose, and the throbbing slowed down some. "It was the first day of our journey" she whined, "it really shouldn't be possible to get in this much trouble this quickly."

Sarah sighed, and pulled Ash by the shoulder, and gave Misty a small smile "We can discuss compensation for the bike over lunch. I'll get my things."

With Misty tagging along after the Nurse on duty assured them they would be contacted when Pikachu was healed, they set out into Viridian.

It was an interesting city. Buildings were placed strategically to allow nature its place and yet have enough space for humans to live comfortably. Pokemon darted between buildings and barely gave them a second glance. Nyx was very curious, carefully wandering and sniffing at whatever she found interesting.

Sarah wasn't too worried about her, she was fairly sure this was unusually bold on Nyx's part and that could only be a good thing in the long run.

"So where are you guys from?" Misty asked, eyes sparking in interest.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders, and realized the nurse was right, painkillers wore off… She jerked a thumb in Pallet Town's general direction, "Pallet Town, actually." She answered spotting a sandwich joint down the road a ways and gesturing for them to follow her. "Every other trainer from there probably had an easier time of it than we did."

"No doubt," Ash agreed with a grimace, "the only Spearow flock in the area and we manage to make em mad."

"That reminds me, I should probably call mom and the Professor."

"Oh," Ash said as they found an empty table, "I've done that don't worry."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, "How did that go?"

Ash winced

"Ah," Sarah chuckled slightly, "I see."

Ash looks down at the table, "Yeah... Mom wasn't happy..."

"I imagine not," Sarah said, looking at the menus on the table.

A companionable silence descended as they browsed the menus. Sarah was idly scratching Nyx's ears as she glanced over her own. Eventually deciding to just go for simple and order a sub.

She glanced over at Ash, whose attention flickered between the menu in front of him and the television at the end of the bar. She glanced over and saw Agatha on the television. They were too far away to read the subtitles that were in place, but the expression on Agatha's face was satisfied.

Sarah knew that look, Agatha always smirked like that when she had beaten another Elite four hopeful.

Misty noticed what she was watching "Are you a fan of hers?" The question seemed innocent enough, but the drawl in her voice… there was something.

Sarah grinned "Agatha is amazing! Her ghost types are so versatile! Can be both heavy hitters, distractions and support roles and can switch between the roles so easily."

"And there she goes" Ash groaned, but his grin betrayed his act "She's always had an affinity for ghost types," he explained pointing toward Sarah. "Yet she refuses to specialize. But we'll see what happens in the real world" Ash gave his sister a rueful look.

"Why?" the orange haired trainer's head tilted curiously

"Truth told," Sarah admitted "I don't like the idea of specializing. It never really appealed to me. It just sounds… restraining."

Misty eyed Sarah, "Then what do you intend to do?" She asked carefully. "I'm a water type user. It's in my nature."

Ash grinned "I'm going to be a pokemon master!" he was practically bursting with excitement.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "You're ambitious," she said lightly "I'll give you that."

She glanced over at Sarah. "And you? What do you see yourself doing?"

Sarah opened her mouth, only to find that she didn't have an answer ready. She frowned, lowering her gaze to the table consideringly. What did she see herself doing?

Ash glanced over at his sister, seeing her slowly pet Nyx with her eyes on the table and a thoughtful expression on her face.

The waitress came back with a notepad. "May I take your orders?" her voice as pleasant as a wigglytuff's..

They all ordered, Ash going for a rack of barbeque and Misty a cold pasta and Sarah got herself a pastrami sandwich.

Sarah poured some pokemon food into a bowl for Nyx, setting the little fox down so she could eat as well.

The meal passed in silence, with everyone distracted by food. Eventually Ash put down his fork and reached into his vest pocket he pulled out his Pokedex. "Hey Soot?" he asked while scrolling through his options

Sarah set down her sandwich, and raised an eyebrow "Yes Ash?"

He scrolled through his pokedex for a few minutes and finally found what he was looking for. He turned the screen around to face her. "Do you know what pokemon this is?"

Sarah nearly choked on her lunch.

The Pokemon was a huge bird, with gleaming plumage with the crests and tail feathers all colors of the rainbow. "Ash," she wheezed before calming her breathing "That's Ho-oh"

Misty's eyes bugged out. "Wait, what? Let me see that." her hand on the pokédex ready to take a look.

"Hey maybe ask to see it first?" Ash retorted, yanking the device back only to have Nyx leap up from under the table and yank it out of his hands before trotting over to Sarah. The younger of the two siblings very carefully clicked a few buttons, and checked her own dex and pokégear before nodding in satisfaction.

Sarah gave the pokedex back to Ash and started reciting what was on her screen. "Ho-oh, The legendary pokémon. Ho-Oh's feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This Pokémon is said to live at the foot of a rainbow." She turned to Ash a playful smile on her lips. "You didn't happen to find one of its feathers, did you?"

Ash shook his head "Nah, it was too far for that. It was on the far end of the storm." the novice trainer frowned in thought "Come to think of it, it is odd how quickly that storm sprung up."

"Well that's all nice and dandy." Misty interrupted. "But let's focus on the now and here." She ruffled through her backpack and placed a map of the region on the table. "Right now, we're in Viridian. The first place you want to go is to Pewter, where you'll find Brock." She glanced up "He's Pewter's gym leader. I won't lend you my water types." Misty grinned slyly here "That'd be cheating."

"What about the gym here?" Ash asked, pointing out the brochures near the entrance to the restaurant.

The redhead shrugged "It's under renovations from a recent incident with an earth type pokemon. Apparently a Rhyperior got carried away with Earth Power and damaged the foundations pretty bad."

"Also, Pewter city has a really good bike shop. And remember what you promised me?"

Ash took a sip from his drink, his eyes staring a hole in the cup. " Yeah, I remember." he mumbled.

"Pewter city… That means we'd have to go through Viridian Forest right?" Sarah asked, her finger following the path from where they were to Pewter.

Misty shuddered, hugging herself slightly "Yes… But so long as we follow the main path, we should be safe from.. bugs." Sarah noted the way she'd reacted to the name and filed that away, making a mental note to ask the Cerulean native about it later.

Sarah eyed Ash warily. There was something she hadn't told him yet. she wanted to split ways with him around there. Start getting her own pokemon on her own merit. They hadn't really talked about it yet, but Viridian Forest would be as good a place to split as any. She knew he had his own journey to go through, and she wondered what hers would be.

"You know." Sarah started. "I've heard rumors about a Venusaur having rooted in Viridian Forest a few years ago."

Ash looked up, interested in what Sarah had brought up. "What do you mean Soot?"

"I mean, by now, there might be wild Bulba- and Ivysaur roaming around. They reproduce quite fast when they have an actual rooted Venusaur."

"Whats a rooted Venusaur?"

Sarah sighed. "Didn't you study anything Ash?"

"Of course I did…"

"Well, a rooted Venusaur is a female venusaur that has marked her territory, she uses her sweet scent to attract wild male venusaur and then within months bulbasaur start hatching en masse. Then having used up all her sweet scent she goes into a resting state, burrows herself in and solely lives on solar energy she gets from her petals and flower. Only to repeat the process next spring when she's regained her strength"

Misty gave Sarah a strange look. "But I thought wild Venusaur, just like the other Kanto starters, were pretty much extinct in the wild?"

Sarah merely gave a mischievous grin "Same as how Eevee are almost impossible to find?" she asked ruffling Nyx's fur. "All pokemon, to some extent, are good at staying hidden when they need to. Venusaur know how to hide their paths and clearings from outsiders. They are grass types after all. It'd be trivial for them to hide in a forest."

"Oh I knew that!" Ash happily added. He scrunched his nose, furrowed his eyebrows and looked quite sour. "It's called the Grass-something-something-theory right?"

Sarah felt her eyebrow twitch. They had discussed this at prof. Oaks lab not three months ago. "You mean the Grass Surreptitious Survival Theory?"

"Yes!"

"That's not the one Ash, but good on you for trying." she petted him on his head. She turned to Misty. "It's important to give him compliments for trying."

"Hey! I'm sitting here too you know."

"What is this theory?" Misty cut across, ignoring Ash's indignation.

Sarah cracked her knuckles, pokémon theory, yeah she could dish that out like a pro. "The theory was actually quite a popular one, you might know it as the Forest Flower Fuckery. Pardon the language." Misty nodded though, so she had heard of it. "They used to think that Grass pokemon actually came out of nature, that they were born from trees or seeds in the earth. But Gym Leader Erika published a new Theory. She found that..."

Nyx started coughing up her food. Jumped on the ground and produced a pokéball sized hairball.

"Oh, you poor thing." Sarah said stroking the pokémons back.

Nyx heaved a few more times. Meanwhile Misty pushed her plate, half full, to the middle of the table.

"Yeah," Misty muttered "this is one reason I train water types."

Ash snorted "Trust me, after working at Prof. Oak's lab you tend to get desensitized to stuff like this." to prove his point, he took another bite of his food, seemingly untroubled by the display.

"Eevee's are known for this. We're lucky she hasn't evolved yet. Nothing worse than a Flareon coughing up a hairball." Sarah grabbed her napkin off the table and wiped the ground clean.

-.-.-.- ^^ -.-.-.-

Later that night, when all of them had gone to bed Sarah lay next to Nyx. There was something about being close to your pokémon physically, that made you feel close to them emotionally.

It strengthened the bonds. She didn't even mind the broken air conditioning vent, it was just nice to lay in a nice bed with her starter pokémon.

Sarah had a room to herself, and she had to admit; that was nice. Privacy wasn't something she would have often while on the road. Add a nice bed, this would probably be the most comfortable night she'd have in a long time.

Sarah sat up abruptly, eyes narrow as the atmosphere in the place seemed to shift. It was way too quiet. Pokémon centres were never quiet. Even in the dead of night there was always the constant hum of machinery or the occasional pokemon cry. But now there was silence.

She shook Nyx awake. "Come on, something is wrong." she whispered when the Eevee blinked herself awake. The little fox nodded and crouched low when she hit the ground. Her tail twitching uneasily as she too sensed the shift in atmosphere and took in the quiet.

She was in her PJ's, but that didn't stop her from going outside of her room. Immediately she noticed that the air felt thicker, it didn't smell off though… She passed Ash and then passed Misty's room and walked into the lobby.

She fell back on her shinobi training. She kept close to the shadows, keeping herself angled away from the door and windows.

She didn't hear anything amiss. And that was the biggest hint that something absolutely was. Most lights were off and she almost tripped over the slumped form of Nurse Joy. Alarm bells went off in her head, and she quickly checked on the woman's' vitals. Her pulse was there, and she was breathing evenly. It looked like she had just fallen asleep on the spot.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, scanning the room with wary scrutiny. She pulled out her pokegear and flicked the built in flashlight on scanning the walls and counters. Bingo. She lightly ran her hand over the wall, rubbing the light powder between her fingers. It gleamed with a teal colour when her light shone on it and she carefully held it away from her mouth and nose. "Sleep Powder." she murmured quietly

Nurse Joy wouldn't wake up anytime soon if that was the case. But why would a pokémon use Sleep Powder? There was no damage to the walls or anything, so it didn't look like a pokémon had gone on a rampage…

She rounded the corner and saw a meowth with a bunch of Pokéballs in its front paws. It's amulet coin reflected the little bit of light that was in the room. It dropped the pokéballs in a basket and walked back to the storage pods, where pokéballs were kept until their trainer picked them up.

Was this Meowth stealing pokémon?

Something stirred in the back of her mind. There was a memory, however faint… She knew this meowth?

It didn't click until she saw a man walking into the room. She was still hidden around the corner, but could see and hear everything. "Jesse, I think we've got them all. Let's go."

The woman who followed was tall. Easily clearing six feet and had a bright shock of vibrant red hair. When the light hit it the right way it almost looked pink. "Good, meowth come on! We can't linger."

Sarah growled lowly "They don't have much choice." then she raised her voice "Nyx Quick Attack!"

The evolution pokemon nodded and a corona of bright energy erupted around her. Nyx launched herself into the meowth and slammed hard into the cat's side at blinding speeds.

Sarah rolled behind the counter and slinked along the edge, gaining ground on the unsuspecting duo. If i can take them by surprise…

"PickachUUUUU!" out of nowhere, Ash's little Pikachu was there. slamming himself into the one called James with electricity crackling off his form as he caught himself on the counter.

What followed was short but brutal. Humans stood no chance against a pichu, let alone a pikachu of Ash's pikachu's caliber. There were shocks of lightning and the only one to get out unharmed was Meowth. Who in the short time between Pikachu arriving and firing his electric attacks had made an escape.

Jesse and James lay on the ground, their pokéballs slowly rolling to the side, their bodies twitching and curling in a way Sarah hadn't seen in a long time.

Sarah had to admit, the animation show, she had always watched as a kid, didn't quite match up with brutal reality.

She stood, fairly sure that there weren't any other surprises there and gently tried to shake Nurse Joy awake "Nurse Joy. wake up. We have something of a situation here."

Pikachu snorted at that. and decided to try giving the nurse a light smack on the back of the head with his tail. "Pika!"

Nurse Joy continued to sleep away. Pikachu's eyes narrowed and electricity crackled against his cheeks. Sarah hastily scooped the mouse up and deposited him on the ground next to Nyx.

"Pikachu, Nyx, you two stay here… I'm calling the police." the two pokemon nodded in unison. Pikachu's cheeks sparking dangerous promises of pain if either of the team rockets managed to get up once more.

Sarah hurried her way back to her room, opened her bag and called the emergency number.

By the time Officer Jenny and her police officers got at the centre, Sarah had already tried to wake Ash and Misty up, to no avail. The sleeping powder had been potent. And done it's job very well.

She frowned. Well, it was still night… A few more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt them. Actually, a few more hours of sleep sounded pretty good. "Come one Nyx, nothing we can do now."

"Actually." A voice called out. "I'll need a statement from you."

It was one of the police officers. A small rotund man with freckles on his nose and under his eyes. Beside him, a musclebound Machoke towered over everyone present, quickly striding over to the felons and hefting them over his shoulder.

Sarah turned, to face the officer; the man gave her a look as if to say 'I don't want to do this either right now.'. She picked up Nyx, who instantly wrapped her bushy tail around her arm, and nodded. Pikachu sunk onto all fours as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Sure, wasn't going to get much sleep anyways."

She told how she found out about what was happening, and who she had seen. The policeman didn't ask any questions while she told her version of events. He simply nodded until she was finished. "So, why were you, pikachu and Eevee not affected by the sleep powder?"

Sarah frowned in thought. "I'm not sure about why Pikachu wasn't affected. As for me and Nyx, the AC was out. At the time it was merely an inconvenience."

He nodded, writing down what she said. "You also mentioned a Meowth?"

Sarah looked back to where Meowth was lying on the ground. Except, there was no sign of him. "Yeah, there was. He was right… there?"

-.-.-.- ^^ -.-.-.-

Come morning Sarah was sitting in one of the booths, together with Ash and Misty. There was one difference between them. Sarah was yawning, while both Ash and Misty seemed full of energy. Sarah hadn't managed to get any sleep in last night. And even two cups of coffee could make a difference.

"I can't believe all that happened last night!" Misty said nursing a cup of soy milk. "You'd think a Pokémon Centre was safe, especially in these parts. I mean, we're not in Saffron for crying out loud."

"I don't think Team Rocket cares about where they steal pokemon." Sarah yawned, smiling as Nyx rubbed her head against her cheek. "Pikachu was a big help." She added

Ash stood up, his hands remaining on the table. He looked twelve shades of fierce. "So long as Pikachu and I are closeby, Team Rocket will never get their hands on someone elses' Pokémon."

The grand gesture was nice and all, but ruined by the milk mustache Ash was sporting. "Sit down sleeping beauty. You weren't even awake to stop them." Sarah said petting Ash's hand.

"So, if you are set on going through Viridian Forest, you may want to get some heavier duty equipment." Misty mentioned, scanning the contents of the packs sat next to the table. "Some Repels, a few Antidote a Paralyz Heal. Bug Pokemon are plentiful in that forest, you don't want to be caught by a Beedrill Hive without the proper precautions."

Ash shrugged. "No worries. I got Pikachu."

Misty's eye twitched. "Yeah, because that worked out so well the last time."

"Hey! Pikachu saved us twice now. Show the mouse some respect!"

-.-.-.- ^^ -.-.-.-

tylerbamafan34:We are so so sorry you guys had to wait this long for a chapter, see we kinda got a bit distracted by the 'Great Marvel Crossover Project going on, of which we are both a part of. I can't promise waits won't happen again. And I can't speak for Tsuki. But I will try to ensure you guys don't have to wait as long for the next instalment of Sarah and Ash's adventures through the Kanto region Anything you two want to add?

TsukiRiver: I am super sorry too. I have been trying to do many things beyond this and after a certain point I just got stuck trying to write. I wish I could promise that we will update super quickly and consistently, but I can't. I am attempting many projects along with trying to get a job and so it makes it hard to write. I can promise however that I will try harder to work on this, especially since so many of you are relying on me to get your updates to you! I will also be going back and fixing the error I made in the previous chapters regarding the sex of Pikachu. Thank you, everyone who has waited for this and favorited or followed the story. It really means alot to me. I wish I could name all of you but there are so many now that I really can't! Thank you, and see you in the next update!


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